Aside from tourism and commercial real estate, it’s hard to imagine an industry that has been as devastated by COVID-19 as retail. In the US, malls are empty. Big brand chains from J Crew to Brooks Brothers to Lord & Taylor have filed for bankruptcy. In the work-from-home era, people still buy things – computers, home office equipment and wine – but apparel just isn’t top of mind these days.
US commerce department figures show a 20 per cent decline in clothing sales last month, compared with August 2019. When even Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, is at home in her sweatpants, who is thinking of dressing up?
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Financial Times
Rana Foroohar is a global business columnist and an associate editor at the Financial Times, based in New York. She is also CNN’s global economic analyst.
